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 Linda Thomas
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Truck nuts - obscene or free speech?

May 8, 2012 @ 3:18 am (Updated: 3:35 am - 5/8/12 )

For the second time in a year, a motorist has been ticketed in South Carolina for displaying a replica of testicles on a vehicle.

I first saw "truck nuts" on a vehicle when I attended my nephew's graduation in North Dakota. They're fake bull testicles made of plastic or metal that drivers hang on the back of their pickups to make a truck look more manly. I was told they've "been around for years" and no one else gave them a second glance.

TruckNuts

Some find them funny, while others find them offensive, prompting at least three states to try to ban them.

In South Carolina, a Spartanburg County sheriff's deputy stopped a truck Sunday evening after noticing the truck nuts on the rear bumper. The incident report says the driver removed the display after being stopped but he was arrested for driving without a license. He was also given a warning ticket for having an obscene display.

That's happened before in South Carolina. Last July, a Bonneau woman was ticketed for having a similar display on the back of her truck. That case is to go to trial in municipal court, but it's been delayed three times.

The most recent case in South Carolina is fueling debate over whether the car decorations (I'm trying not to write truck nuts again) violate state indecency laws and if attempting to regulate them infringes on freedom of speech.

In the past, lawmakers in Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland and Florida have proposed legislation to ban these types of decals and other explicit bumper stickers.

By LINDA THOMAS

AP contributed to this report

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Comments (38)


  • Add A Comment

  • sportsguru wrote...
    So what
    May 8, 2012 3:32 pm
    People are starting to get offended at anything now days. If the wind blows, that's too hard, can you make it stop. Man, get a life and let the person live there life.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Jeana wrote...
    you might be a redneck....
    May 8, 2012 4:05 pm
    ok seriously, they are silly. And free speech does allow the silly... look at all the comments on this site =)Funny people.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • sohojo wrote...
    Mine
    May 8, 2012 5:06 pm
    Are bigger. So, there!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • darthclown wrote...
    Free Speech? Yes.
    May 8, 2012 6:25 pm
    Make you look like a doofus? Also Yes.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • kiddenme wrote...
    This is nuts
    May 8, 2012 7:31 pm
    Ok... here is a question. Would I get in trouble if I hung a plastic replica of a women's genitals on the back of my truck? :)
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • rebelnocause wrote...
    obscene
    May 8, 2012 11:42 pm
    is not the word I would use...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Zoeller wrote...
    Free speech!
    May 9, 2012 9:13 am
    But I would not put them on my truck. Last week I saw a hot blonde driving a lifted truck around town that had a bumper sticker that said chics rock and she had the testicles hanging off of her trailer hitch. Funny stuff!!!!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Carpe Diem wrote...
    Haiku Dude Says...
    May 9, 2012 10:10 am
    Trucks with testicles... Sad that some feel there's a need... Just use your own more...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • suzh wrote...
    Stupid
    May 9, 2012 10:14 am
    I call those jacked-up, tricked out 'testosterone trucks' anyway. This just proves my point. I'm definately in the 'overcompensating much' camp. Just stupid. So go ahead and put them on your truck. It just makes you look that much more like an idiot.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }